“What Gutenberg’s printing press did for writing, online video did for face-to-face communication. That primal medium has now gone global; it’s like reinventing an ancient art form.”

The audio-visual medium helps shed a bright light on potent ideas, thus creating an intense desire for learning and response. It is perhaps the most powerful way to communicate your brand story, explain your value proposition, and build relationships with your customers and prospects today.

People have always been drawn towards moving images. Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video compared to 10% while reading the text. Even until a few years ago, we could send and receive only text messages on our mobile devices. But today, we send and receive animated GIFs and short videos on WhatsApp. Videos are; undoubtedly, much more effective than text and it is no wonder that video digital marketing has taken the world by storm. The advent and popularity of YouTube have changed the way how we watched videos. Today, with almost all the social media channels (Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter) having video hosting platforms and live features, video consumption has increased astronomically and has become a large share of internet traffic.

A new way of looking

By 2018, Cisco predicts that 82% of all consumer Internet traffic will be video. It also forecasts that Consumer Video-on-Demand (VoD) traffic will nearly double by 2021. Here are some of the evolving trends with respect to video marketing to make a splash in 2018:

Live Video and Stories on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat are set to occupy a major fraction of online video content. Trends show that video consumption is at least two times more when it comes to videos recorded live as compared to those pre-recorded. Facebook today is giving YouTube a run for its money with its new and more accessible video recording and uploading features such as Live Video and Lifestage. Video stories enable entrepreneurs to add a personal touch to their value proposition; the stories have a daylong lifespan which can also be capitalized because it helps enterprises showcase their dynamic and evolving nature, driving them to spin new stories out of their products or services every day which again affects engagement.

Video can now be consumed on mute and in square aspect ratios, making video sharing, hosting and watching more flexible and novel than ever before. Around half the videos on Facebook are streamed without sound. Just like in films, messing with aspect ratios in promotional content on social media too garners special attention from the mass.

360-degree videos and Virtual Reality (VR) projects are being increasingly used by business enterprises, especially the B2C sector, to present their products in a more attractive fashion. Video mapping is also creating a visible impact when combined successfully and unobtrusively with online marketing strategies. Last October, Facebook unveiled Oculus Go, a new VR headset that is reputed to be very user-friendly and an easy option for developers to be introduced to VR.

Forbes expects you to see AI and related tools play an ever more important behind-the-scenes role in sharing audio-visual messages. Advancement in technology will soon enable proprietors and entrepreneurs to test social media Ad variations in huge numbers at the same time. Analytics becomes an important part of online marketing, in determining which images and text will get the most clicks. In the near future, users will soon be able to “automate campaigns so that the best-performing posts are instantly boosted to the biggest audience”.

Integrating video marketing into your business plan is no longer a luxury but a necessity to keep up with the global revolution that has been brought about by the emergence of the online video. Today, videos generate global recognition which drives huge amounts of effort and attention either indirectly through comments, ratings, word of mouth or directly by the number of views. Bandwidth has exploded a hundredfold and the intricate network of innovators, commenters, mavericks, skeptics, superspreaders, and trendspotters catalyze the process of making a video viral.

Brian Halligan from Hubspot recommends that at least 50% of your content mix be video. Video platforms within apps and embedded videos within the website have managed to engage more users today. HubSpot says, 96% of B2B organizations use video in some capacity in their marketing campaigns of which 73% report positive results to their ROI. Marketers who use video grow revenue 49% faster than non-video users. If you’re worried about a massive hit to your budget, remember that your video content doesn’t have to be highly-produced. Live video is quickly becoming a tool that gives brands a high level of reach and engagement on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, so take full advantage.

Gaining trust isn’t easy but unique and interactive video can come to the rescue by increasing the level of client engagement. According to HubSpot, 64% of users are more likely to buy a product online after watching a video and 80% of them recall a video ad they have watched in the past one month. As per Digital Information World census, 33% of tablet owners watch about an hour of video on their devices every day.

Santanu Mukherjee, head of Digital Marketing, Indus Net Technologies, informs that explaining a product or service to a customer in lengthy content form is actually putting a pressure on them. A marketer, he informs, never tries to sell a product. Rather, he tries to establish a relationship based on trust with the consumer, and videos enable marketers to do that.

“A customer or a client will prefer to watch an explainer video of one minute than reading a three-page brochure,” he says. He also mentions that if the video has the presence of a personality who represents the brand, then it enhances trust and builds a connection with the virtual audience. Santanu also mentions that edutainment videos, which provide education through entertainment, are on the rise. “These videos have a greater chance of winning the trust of the consumers,” he says.

Videos encourage social sharing

Videos serve as crowd accelerated innovation. The more your video is shared, the more audience you reach and higher are the chances of conversion, sales, and revenue. Think about how many auto-play videos you regularly share on Facebook? Even if they are not good, you can’t deny that they are engaging. With the increase in a number of smart device users, video sharing on social networks has taken a huge leap. 92% of mobile video consumers share videos with others, says HubSpot. TechCrunch reported in 2016 that over 100 million hours of videos are watched on Facebook every day.

As a brand, you should not miss out on the social media platforms when it comes to uploading and promoting your video and look for platforms other than Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. If you are a B2C brand, you should also explore Pinterest and SnapChat which enables you to link your website on social media. This increases the chance of generating new traffic to the website which also increases the probability of making a sale. However, it should be kept in mind that every digital marketing strategy is different for each client.

Social sharing increases the traffic to your website and if you can create intuitive, relevant, valuable and innovative videos, then it can benefit your inbound marketing strategy. Marketing consultant, Roberto Blake admits that audience on social media has a deeper connection with you. “And if you give them content where they can react and respond, or interact with you, it can be very effective for your business and might lead to conversations later,” he says.

According to Social Media Examiner, nearly all marketers used videos in their social media marketing in 2017 and more than half of them have warmed up to the idea of incorporating live videos. So, you can understand the importance of having a proper video marketing strategy in your plan. But let’s not forget that videos, which are emotionally appealing and entertaining get shared the most on social media.

Videos boost search engine rankings

Google loves videos. Online studies conducted over the years have indicated that if your website has relevant and valuable video content, there is a significant chance of your website achieving a better ranking on Google SERPs. And who doesn’t want to be on the first page of Google?

Forrester Research found that videos are 53 times more likely to receive an organic first-page ranking. Consumers spend 88% more time on a website which has video. And greater time spent on your website sends signals to search engines that the site has new and valuable content.

HubSpot also reported that 39% of business decision-makers contact a vendor after viewing a branded video. Studies have also revealed that a video placed on the landing page of your website can increase conversions by 80%. So, if you continuously add fresh, engaging, useful and informational video on your website, then it improves organic SEO of your company’s website and lowers the bounce rate. If you can add the video’s link back to your website, make shorter videos and use proper keywords, it again enhances SEO of the organization.

“People remember videos more than text. Also, if you can make a video entertaining and informative, there are more chances of getting views,” he says. Krishnendu also mentions that today a number of online platforms and tools are available to create and host engaging videos. He also informs that through a video you can easily convey the message effectively to a wider audience easily.

Videos help in getting better email marketing click-through rate

Today, email marketing is considered one of the foremost tools in digital marketing mix to generate leads. With decreasing attention span, the chances of getting your email noticed among piles of emails are hard. As per Animoto, if you use the word “video” in your subject line, it boosts open rates by 19%, click-through rates by 65%, and reduces unsubscription by 26%. Isn’t this a great way to make your email stand out in the overcrowded email box?

You can use embedded videos, cinemagraphs, animated GIFS within the email

Incorporate social buttons at the end of the video

Keep the video under 3 minutes

Personalize the email

According to Hubspot, video in an email leads to 200-300% increase in click-through rate. So, be creative, crisp and utilize the power of video to make email campaigns more effective and to generate more leads.

Conclusion

The digital video industry is marching at an accelerating pace with major tech giants jumping onto this bandwagon. Amazon spent $4.5 billion in video-on-demand services in 2017. Other video producing giants such as HBO, Netflix, and Facebook is also giving tough competition to YouTube, which gets over 30 million visitors per day.

As strange it may be, it is also true that today 6 out of 10 people prefer online video platforms to live TV. And going by the way videos are ruling the world, studies show that by 2025, half the viewers of the world under 32 will not subscribe to a pay-TV service. This is surely good news for digital marketers who have already understood the potential of video marketing and integrated it into the marketing strategy of the company.

Santanu Mukherjee sums up the utility of video marketing with Benjamin Franklin’s famous saying, “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” “This exactly happens in the case of videos. Videos have the power to involve a user and that’s why it is gaining popularity across all industries,” he says. By creating communities of creative participation and a dynamic network of tastemakers, they bring the unexpected and unique together to accelerate digital marketing. The world of online content demands a combination of new media and new cultures where everyone has access and where the audience defines popularity of a commodity or service.

Kevin Alloca, Trends Manager at YouTube says marketing no longer thrives on one-way participation. Videos are becoming a cultural moment. With greater interaction thanks to technological advancements, a shortening of the buyer-seller spectrum are possible because of an increasing ease in shooting, hosting, curating and sharing video content today; this is certainly compounded by the medium’s sheer attractive quotient. Looking ahead at the trends which have begun to set in a big time in the video digital marketing landscape, one thing is clear: being aware and open, to new technologies and tastes can turn your brand’s videos into valuable visions.

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Great Experience for Web and Mobile Application Development Service

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Sep 3, 2018

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We've used Indusnet for internal development work for over 5 years. Most recently we have worked with Joy and Abhranil who have been outstanding. We have worked closely with them to develop an internal reporting application, which is critical to our daily operations, productivity and team management across 70+ employees. At times we've hit some obstacles due to the complexity of the application, however they have been overcome by Joy, Abhranil and the assistance of Paromita, when needed. Based on our experience if you're looking to outsource your development work and have a clear plan/ framework I can recommend working with Joy, Abhranil and Indusnet.